This article deals with the origins of international conflicts over the use of rivers, lakes, or ground water aquifers. I ask what makes for a high conflict potential and whether there are significant differences between resource conflicts and conflicts arising from the degradation and pollution of fresh water resources. Another set of questions relates to the relationship of conflicts over water resources to other conflicts. Are conflicts over scarce water resources the source of international conflict, or do they contribute to intensifying conflicts which have arisen from other sources, (such as ethnic conflicts)? Does this matter for their solution? In the last part of the paper I draft a taxonomy of various water conflicts, their chances for regulation and/or solution and the role of international institutions therein. I further ask what prospects for the solution of water conflicts exist on a global or regional scale.
